I'd like to open this thread with a couple direct questions to the mods. What are the standards when it comes to enforcing the rules? Why are the standards the way they are?
The rules exist to facilitate the existence of a community. The standards in enforcement derive from that goal.
Well, ain't I part of the community? Or am I just the forum outlaw?
Are you? Not my place to decide, beyond banning you or not. Which I observably haven't done.
I take it that means you're not going to intervene on my behalf, despite so many other users being dicks to me. Well, if you're not gonna punish people who break the rules, then they're not gonna be followed. This board is basically a high school that just lets bullying happen, with the difference that nobody's required to attend. No wonder it's basically a ghost town.
You say you want to facilitate the existence of a community. Well, if a community has problem members who can pick on others without any fear of consequences, how many people are gonna wanna be part of it? Especially a community that's entirely voluntary. There's nothing tying anybody down here. Nobody has to worry about the financial consequences of leaving. No one has any legal obligation to be here. So what do people do when they get attacked while the authorities just look the other way?
They leave. And I'm seriously considering doing just that. Because from my experience, there are two types of users on this board: people who've been attacking me in clear violation of the rules, and people who've just been standing around and letting them attack me. Some community.
Do you think I'm made of stone? Do you think this doesn't hurt me? Or do you think I'll just stay here forever hoping that something will change? Because I won't. I'm not that stubborn or crazy. And I'm sick of the mockery, of the hostility, of the passive-aggressiveness, of the blatant trolling and baiting, of all the bad behavior you ignore. There's only so much I can take.
You know, I've seen lots of board members talk shit about Kiwi Farms, but at least they're honest and upfront about what they are. This board, on the other hand, is pretty much /b/, except it pretends to have rules. Way I see it, there are two solutions to this hypocrisy: either you can enforce the rules evenly and consistently so even the biggest assholes on this board will have to respect them, or you can drop all pretenses of having rules so people aren't under any illusions that they'll be helped by the moderators.
Yeah, as you can probably tell, I'm really not happy. Maybe I'm being uncharitable to you, but I think someone had to say it. Might as well be me.